Update:After this post went up on Friday, Andy White tweeted an apology -- "Sorry 'bout that - #distracteddriving is bad! Don't tweet, even if stuck in traffic" -- and has apparently deleted the offending tweet. Later in the day, however, White told Mashabale that I also tweet photos from behind the wheel, adding, “Hypocritical much?” This deserves a clarification, since Mashable didn't bother contacting me. All photos and video that appear on this blog and on my Twitter account are taken while the cameras are mounted (that's hands free) on the dashboard, windshield or my head (GoPro's handy head-band mount). I then wait to send the tweets with photos when I'm legally out of traffic. At other times -- for instance, during police ride-alongs -- I am taking pictures and tweeting from the passenger's seat.

The iPad photo was ill advised. I’m not clear on the details of Audi’s distracted-driving policy for employees. But I’m pretty sure that if I pulled a Twitter stunt like the one pulled by Andy White on Interstate 66 in Virginia this week, I wouldn’t be writing about commuting any longer.

In fact, The Oregonian would probably send me to write obits and briefs about noxious weed board meetings in the Beavercreek Bureau.

On Wednesday, White, who is based in Washington, D.C., was heading down the busy freeway when when he took a photo with his iPhone of his iPad positioned on his steering wheel. He thought it was so clever that he tweeted the picture to his 750 followers with the message “New in-car multitouch connected enabled mobile office.”

Not funny.

White (who, amazingly, has left the tweet up) is taking heat for his actions in the Twitterverse and blogosphere.

On Be Car Chic, a blog that focuses on news from the auto industry, Melanie Batenchuk gave this scathing assessment of the actions of "one of our own":

Audi should not only be aware of Andy’s dangerous behind-the-wheel move, but they should also take action against Mr. White for his poor choices as a public representation of their brand. This kind of negligence is reminiscent of Scott Bartosiewicz, who was part of Chrysler’s social media team, and infamously tweetedfrom the driver’s seat last fall. While it’s not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison, automakers need to understand that if you’re hiring individuals to represent your brand, it’s your responsibility to both train these people to be the best public face and keep a pulse on their public interactions.Whatever happened to the 4,000 VW and Audi employees who pledged, as part of a program with the Department of Transportation, to never text and drive? Tweeting IS a form of texting. I guess Andy forgot about that when he was touting his new “in-car multitouch connected enabled mobile office.”

For his part, White has taken to defending himself on Twitter: “Does it count as distracted driving if you're stationary? Gotta love muckraking bloggers, eh?”

Actually, unless he was pulled over to the side of the road and out of the traffic lane, White was breaking the no-texting law. (That also applies to Oregon and Washington distracted-driving laws, which don’t give you a break just because you’re stopped in traffic.) Texting in traffic is texting in traffic, regardless of whether you’re moving or not.

Also, if traffic on the 66 was stop and go, why was there a quarter of a football field between White and the car in front of him?